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GPT Car: How I Made ChatGPT Drive My Son’s Toy Car

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It all began with a playful challenge.

One Saturday morning, I watched my son zoom his toy car around the living room and asked,

“Do you think I can make your car obey ChatGPT?”

He laughed.

“No way! ChatGPT can talk, but it can’t drive!

That was all the motivation I needed.

By Sunday evening, that same little car was rolling forward, turning, and stopping on my commands — powered by ChatGPT, a Raspberry Pi, and a small MCP server I’d built in Node.js.

What started as a weekend experiment became something much bigger: a moment of shared wonder, and a lesson in real-world tech for my son.

I completed the project end-to-end by leveraging ChatGPT for ideation and brainstorming, while using OpenAI Codex as a coding assistant to help me finish on schedule.

GPT Car

🧩 The Challenge

The question was simple but exciting:
Could a cloud-based AI chatbot control a physical toy?

To make it happen, I had to connect two worlds:

The bridge between them was a lightweight MCP (Model Context Protocol) server — a way for ChatGPT to send structured commands that the Pi could translate into motion.

(If you’re curious about the tech behind it, you can find the code and setup details here: GitHub → samsel/gpt_car)

⚙️ Building the System

The setup was simple.
I used an old Raspberry Pi from 2012, a motor driver board, two DC motors from the toy itself, and a small Li-ion battery pack.
Node.js powered the local MCP server, while ChatGPT connected through ngrok tunnel endpoint to interpret natural commands like “drive forward” or “turn left.”

My son loved the analogy:

“The Pi is the brain, the motor board is the muscle, and ChatGPT is the voice.”

That framing made it more than a build — it became a teaching moment in system thinking.

GPT Car System diagram

💡 The Moment of Magic

When it was ready, I called my son over and said:

“Watch this.”

Then I asked ChatGPT:

“Drive forward and turn left.”

ChatGPT replied:

“Sure — driving forward and turning left.”

And, just like that, his car moved exactly as commanded.

He stared in disbelief, then burst into laughter:

“Wait… ChatGPT just drove my car?!”

It was a small project, but that reaction made it unforgettable.

🚀 What’s Next

The fun didn’t stop there.
We’ve already talked about upgrades — adding speed control (PWM), obstacle detection with ultrasonic sensors, and maybe even a small camera so ChatGPT can “see” the road.
Who knows? Maybe next time, we’ll build a rover.

Full technical details and code: GitHub → samsel/gpt_car


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